Terry Labonte set to join his brother at Pettys
Quote selected text Published May 11th, 2008 in NASCAR News
Terry Labonte will be a teammate to his brother Bobby at Petty Enterprises starting next month, pending sponsor approval. Terry (and Chad McCumbee) will drive the #45 when Kyle Petty gets out for the summer.
Petty is scheduled to compete in the Coca-Cola 600 and then miss the next seven races (one for his daughter’s wedding and the other six to work as an analyst for TNT). McCumbee likely will drive at Dover and Chicago. Terry Labonte likely will drive in the other five races.
Labonte’s addition is key for Petty Enterprises because the #45 car is not in the top 35 in car owner points. Labonte’s second of his two titles came in 1996 — that makes him the most recent champion not in the top 35 since Bill Elliott’s title came in 1988. Thus, Labonte would be guaranteed a starting spot each time he starts, while the Wood Brothers would lose that even with Elliott in the seat. This would be the second time the Labonte brothers have run as teammates. Terry Labonte drove in five races for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2005 when Bobby Labonte was there. Terry Labonte ranks fourth in series history with 851 career starts. He won 22 races.
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Fisha695 wrote:
I’m sure Marathon Oil, PVA, and Wells Fargo will have no problem with Kyle getting out of the car and Terry getting in the car and having the car locked in for a few races.
Only if Bobby, Jimmie, Jeff or Tony don’t mess up and need it first.
wrote:
They have their spot through the top-35 rule already
Well at least the 45 car will now get close to victory lane! Go Terry!
Shawn ha thats a funny one. Good luck w that it will be the same ol Petty stinkfest lol
Kyle was never the driver his father was but in his own right was a good driver and a good role model for kids to look up to. Kyle’s time in cup racing has passed and he needs to embrace whatever comes next but i hope he doesnt disappear from the track. We need a petty to be at the track every week for image if nothing else besides his knowledge will be invaluable to getting the 45 back to victory lane.
what is this moderation crap?
George Thompson wrote:
I get that every now and then, I think that there are certain words that set off the ‘alarm’ and those posts have to get approved. Its been like that for awhile.
He’s going to do worse than Kyle
wrote:
Impossible (unless you meant Kyle Busch and then he will probably do worse than that Kyle). My 3 year old son could go out there and run 43rd week in and week out. At least Terry will have a guaranteed spot in the race.
Like George said, Kyle is a great guy and a good role model, but his day has come and gone as a competitive driver. I think he’d be a great team director of some sorts and I hope he hangs around the garage too, but just get out of the car for goodness sakes!
Terry on a bad day is always better than Kyle on his good days. They need to really get serious about finding a permanent replacement for Kyle. How long are they gonna stroke McCumbee around before he takes a hike?
NOBODY can perform well in that piece of junk 45 car. A driver is only as good/bad as his equipment.
wrote:
They get their stuff from GEM, i think your wrong about equipment. Today it’s all about the setup so i believe it has to do with needing more engineering help but that cant be all of it. something is missing on that team and i think maybe Terry can help get things moving in the right direction. The crew needs a driver they can rally around not one they know is not going to push it to the edge. If you notice the guys in the top 10 every week every one of those guys will take everything their cars will give and then take a little more the 45 crew needs a driver like that.
If Terry does the road courses he might be able to get a top 5 like he did in the 96 a few years back.
David Greenburg wrote:
Yeah, and didn’t he have the 96 in position for a win last year? I remember he sat in for whoever was driving the 96 last year at a road course, and he had the thing running up front for a while, right? No matter what anyone says, I’d take Terry over Kyle any day, regardless of what the equipment is like!
Why all the talk about Terry, Bobby is the only possible hope for Petty. If petty Enterprises really wanted to be in Victory Lane, they would be. Richard Petty is stacked with cash and Bobby’s equipment is shit. Richard could give Bobby the best car if he wanted and could also give the 45 the best car. The Petty’s don’t care about victory anymore.